Lecture 2 — Job feels betrayed by his friends

^6:13^ Behold, I cannot help myself, and those to whom I look for help deserted me.

^6:14^ He who takes mercy from a neighbor forsakes the fear of the Lord.

^6:15^ My brothers have passed me by like a torrent, like a stream coursing through the valleys.

^6:16^ Those who fear frost will be covered by snow.

^6:17^ At the time they are broken up, they will perish; and they will vanish from their place as though dried up.

^6:18^ The paths they walk on are confused; they will walk in emptiness and will perish.

^6:19^ Look for the paths to Teman, the roads to Saba, and wait for a little while.

^6:20^ They are embarrassed because I hoped for them, and they came to me, and were covered with shame.

^6:21^ Now you have come to me and in only seeing my disease, you are afraid.

^6:22^ Have I said: Bring me and give me a gift from your property?

^6:23^ Free me from the clutches of the enemy, or ransom me from the hand of the mighty?

^6:24^ Teach me and I will say no more? And if I perhaps have been ignorant: Instruct me?

^6:25^ Why do you slander true ideas? For none of you can accuse me. You compose speeches only to rebuke me,

^6:26^ you join fine words together and you cast your words to the wind.

^6:27^ You seize the orphan and strive to ruin your friend.

^6:28^ Despite this, finish what you began to say so that the truth may come to light by mutual discussion. Lend an ear! See if I am lying.

^6:29^ Answer, please, without contention, and in speaking judge what you think is right.

^6:30^ You will find no evil on my tongue, nor will there be stupidity in my mouth.

116. Behold, I cannot help myself. Job had shown in the preceding verses that he felt pain and spoke words from his pain in conformity with reason, but yet he was not carried away by his pain in the things which he suffered. But because man, although he suffers some adversities, sometimes guards himself by consolations and help in both himself and in others against these adversities, so as to feel little or no pain, blessed Job wants to show that he is destitute of aids of this kind. He does this to put in more evident relief that he spoke rationally when he expressed his pain in speech.

So he first shows that he was destitute of the aforementioned remedies from his own part when he says, behold, I cannot help myself. For even if he had lost some of his goods, he could have tolerated this without sadness if he could have helped himself to recover these lost goods, and so revenge the injury inflicted. But he was not able to do this when he had lost all his riches, children, and even the health of his own body.

117. Further, many things which we cannot do ourselves we can do through friends. So Job shows in the second place that he was also bereft of the help of his friends when he says, those to whom I looked for help, that is, family and servants, deserted me. To show they are blameworthy for this, he continues, he who takes away mercy from a neighbor; namely, in the time of sorrow, forsakes the fear of the Lord; that is, the reverence due to God, because of whom and in whom one loves his neighbor. As John says, whoever does not love his brother whom he does see, how can he love the God whom he cannot see? (1 John 4:2)

118. Next, he shows his family has abandoned him when he says, my brothers, that is, my relatives, have passed me by. He uses the analogy of those who walk along together. If one falls in a ditch, the others pass by nevertheless, abandoning him there. In a certain sense, they would be excused for this if they leave him once they have tried to help him because of weariness, or because they despair of helping him. But he shows that these men are without excuse, because they immediately and suddenly deserted him. He shows this when he says, like a torrent, like a stream coursing through the valleys, which moves very quickly. That they might not believe they did this with impunity, he adds, those who fear frost will be covered by snow, as if to say, “He who fails in justice and mercy because of fear for a lesser danger, exposes himself to still greater dangers.” So Job’s relatives, too, who passed him by unwilling to show any compassion for him, will themselves sustain suffering in their own losses. He continues, showing their danger will be in the future and without remedy, at the time when they will be broken up, that is, when they will suffer dangers, they will perish, totally, and they will vanish from their place as though dried up.

He uses the metaphor of snow, which he has already mentioned, for it does not immediately melt with the first heat when it is very hard and frozen, but when not yet frozen, it melts immediately and becomes slush when touched by the rays of the sun. He shows this, saying, and they will vanish from their place, as though they were dried up, that is, immediately their whole prosperity will vanish at the first assault of adversity, as the snow does at the first heat. He shows the cause of this when he continues, the paths they follow are tangled up. What is entangled goes back on itself with a kind of twist and turn, and so the footpaths of those men are entangled who seek nothing in their kinsmen and friends except their own advantage. Because of this they simulate friendship in time of prosperity, but they pass by in time of adversity. Men who deceitfully seek their own advantage very often fall short in what they hope to gain, and so he adds, they will walk in emptiness. Men are said to walk in emptiness when they do not reach the goal of their walking. Not only will their hope be null, but the opposite will befall them, and so he adds, and will perish, that is, will be totally destroyed.

119. Therefore, he did not have support in himself, in his servants, or in his relatives. As a further consequence, he demonstrates that he did not have help from his other friends, saying, look for the paths to Teman, the roads to Saba, lands where he seemed to have had his greatest friends, for even Eliphaz had come from Teman. And wait for a short while, to see if any friends come by these roads to bring me help. You will not see this because they are embarrassed to come to me, because I hoped for them, that is, because there was a time when I should have hoped for help from them. This is because men who do not want to help someone are ashamed to visit them if they think they will ask them for help reasonably. They came, some of them, to me and they were covered with shame, because they did not give me help when they recognized that they should have. It is not surprising for others to refuse to help me since even you, who seem wiser, fail to do it.

So he continues, now you have come to see me and in only seeing my disease, you are afraid, but perhaps you feel obliged to help me. But do not be afraid, because I haven’t asked you for help in anything, nor do I even request you to assist me with money. This is the meaning of, have I said: bring me and give me a gift from your property? Nor have I sought aid from you in war against enemies, and so he adds, free me from the clutches of an enemy, or ransom me from hand of the mighty? Nor have I sought the help of instruction from you. So this is the meaning of: have I said to you: teach me? in speculative matters, and I will say no more, and if perhaps I have been ignorant: instruct me? in practical actions. Not only do you offer me no help, but you even afflict me further with your words as much as you can. So he adds, why do you slander true ideas? which I spoke first in my lamentation, and which Eliphaz seemed to reprove as has been said. He disproves all the reasons which can excuse a detractor to justify his conduct, to show this detraction is inexcusable.

The first of these is the censure someone in greater authority makes of another for a fault. He disproves this is the case, saying, for none of you can accuse me.

The second is when someone criticizes someone else for his own good and not to exacerbate the situation. He refers to this, saying, you compose speeches only to rebuke me, and not for my good you join fine words together, since you carefully compose them so that your words may not seem lightly spoken.

The third is when someone strengthens the arguments he uses against someone else with efficacious reasons. He excludes this, saying, you cast your words to the wind, as if to say, “Your words are empty, for they do not have the support of reason.”

The fourth is when someone censures someone in that time and in a state when it can be presumed he will become better, and not worse, as a result. But if someone wants to censure another when he is perplexed in soul and is disposed to anger, he does not seen to want his amendment so much as his ruin. So he says, you seize the orphan, and strive to ruin your friend. He refers to himself as an orphan because, set down in his sadness, he was destitute of help.

120. He continues, lest anyone think that he says this because he is afraid to argue with them because he could not be confident in the truth of his opinion and the justice of his case: despite this, finish what you began to say, so that the truth can come to light from mutual debate. So he goes on, lend an ear, that is, listen, and see, that is, consider, if I am lying.

For the first impediment to finding the truth through debate is when someone does not want to hear what his adversary is saying.

The second impediment is when he responds to what he has heard in a loud and abusive way. To exclude this he says, answer, please, without quarreling. To quarrel, according to St. Ambrose, is the attack on truth accompanied by reliance on shouting.

The third impediment exists when someone in a disputation does not aim at the truth, but at victory or glory, as happens in law cases or sophistical debates. In speaking, judge what is right, namely, to concede what seems to be true to you, and deny those things which seem false. And, if you do this, you will find no evil on my tongue, namely, anything contrary to the justice which is due to one’s neighbor. Nor stupidity in my mouth, that is, anything against the wisdom by which one thinks correctly about God. For Job intended to defend and prove the truth about both divine and human matters.